Receptive vocabulary knowledge and motivation in CLIL and EFL

A longitudinal study of primary school EFL learning motivation in CLIL and non-CLIL settings

“…However, type of instruction does not seem to be statistically relevant as regards intrinsic motivation, attitudes to the ‘ideal L2-self’ and instrumental orientation. These results are generally in line with previous research in primary and secondary school contexts, which reported higher motivation levels in CLIL learners (Fernández Fontecha, 2014; Lasagabaster, 2011; Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2009; Seikkula-Leino, 2007), although statistical differences were only found in relation to the learning experience in our study and size effects were small. This lack of significant differences between groups could also result from the fact that the study was conducted in a very low-exposure CLIL setting, which might not have been enough to trigger, at least in the short term, more significant motivational differences between groups.…”

“…The majority of studies comparing FL motivation in CLIL and non-CLIL settings have been carried out in secondary education and their results suggest that CLIL learners are more motivated to learn a foreign language than non-CLIL students prior to or as a consequence of the CLIL experience (Doiz, Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2014b; Lasagabaster, 2011; Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2009; Mearns, 2015; Sylvén & Thompson, 2015). Research conducted in primary school settings remains inconclusive about the potential higher motivation that CLIL students might have and while some studies point towards CLIL having a boosting effect on motivation (Fernández Fontecha, 2014; Seikkula-Leino, 2007), other studies do not report such an effect (Fernández Fontecha & Canga Alonso, 2014).…”

“…Yet CLIL learners reported having low self-esteem levels as language learners and rated themselves as weak English language learners. In the Spanish primary education context, Fernández Fontecha (2014) conducted a study on the relationship between FL motivation and their receptive vocabulary knowledge in CLIL and non-CLIL learners in primary (10–11 years old) and secondary (13–14 years old) education, respectively, with equal number of hours of exposure to the FL (i.e. 839 approximately).…”

“…The subjects taught in English varied from study to study, including maths (Seikkula-Leino, 2007), science (Fernández Fontecha and Canga Alonso, 2014) or even a variety of them within the same study (Doiz et al 2014b; Lasagabaster, 2011). Some other studies did not specify the CLIL subject taught (Fernández-Fontecha, 2014; Lasagabaster and Sierra, 2009). This variety of CLIL subjects might also explain the different results among previous studies.…”

The Relationship between the Saudi Cadets’ Learning Motivation and Their Vocabulary Knowledge

“…Nevertheless, the regression analysis revealed that none of the motivational scales was a predictor of the students' VS. This coincides with the findings of a number of studies such as Fontecha (2014) in Spain and Albodakh and Cinkara (2017) in Iraq, who found no relationships between the students' L2 motivation and their VS. It is worth mentioning that the regression analysis also revealed that the predictor of the students' VS was their perception of their competence in L2.…”